Washington high school legend and Olympic gold medalist Charlie Greene passes away...

O'Dea High School legend Charlie Greene (right/photo courtesy USOPC Archives), one of the world's premier sprinters in the 1960s, and a member of the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame, passed away Monday in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 76, one week short of his 77th birthday.

Greene, who was born March 21, 1945 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was a two-time WIAA 100 yard dash champion at O'Dea High School in Seattle in 1962 and 1963, and added the 220 yard dash title in 1963.

Considered a sure bet to make the 1964 team after finishing third in the US Olympic semi-trials in July at Randalls Island, New York, Greene suffered muscle pulls that held him to a sixth place finish at the US Olympic Trials finals two months later in Los Angeles.

At the University of Nebraska, he was a six-time national champion on the track for the Huskers, winning the most NCAA titles of any Nebraska male track and field student-athlete. Greene (photo courtesy University of Nebraska Athletics) won three straight 60-yard dash titles at the 1965, 1966 and 1967 NCAA indoor championships, and he was also the NCAA outdoor champion in the 100-yard dash in each of those years. 

The first Husker to successfully defend an NCAA title in any sport, Greene was also a seven-time All-American and 11-time conference champion.

Greene earned his Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Nebraska with a major in physical education and athletics in 1967.

At the 1968 AAU championships in Sacramento, he tied the world record in the 100 meters twice, running 10.0 in the heats, then ran 9.9 in the semifinals moments after Jim Hines and Ronnie Ray Smith broke the world record in the first semifinal race. Dubbed "The Night of Speed" for its brilliant performances, the competition was capped by Greene's victory in the finals.

In the US Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, Greene finished second to Jim Hines, running 10.15 to Hines' 10.11.

At the 1968 Olympic Games, Greene was again bothered by injuries and finished third in the 100, running 10.07, as Hines ran a world record 9.95. Despite the injury, he led off the U.S. 4x100m relay team that won the gold medal and set a world record of 38.24 seconds.

“If you tell people you didn’t win because you got injured, it’s sour grapes," Greene told Dan Raley of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2008. “Everybody knew when we had to race. Everybody knew we had to do the best we could. That’s part of running if you can't keep your legs together. It’s tough luck.”

Here is video of the Olympic 4x100 relay finals. Greene ran the leadoff leg, and is on the inside in lane 2.

Following his athletic career, Greene became an Army officer, serving as sprint coach at West Point and head coach of the All-Army team. After retiring from the Army as a major, he became a director for Special Olympics International in Washington, DC, before returning to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he spent six years working in student affairs for the university.

Greene remained a big part of the Lincoln community throughout his life, as he trained high school track and field athletes, volunteered for the Husker Life Skills program, and enjoyed being part of Nebraska's Athletic Department community and a supporter of all Husker student-athletes.

Greene was perhaps one of the first sprinters to wear sunglasses in races. When asked about that, he told reporters, “They’re for re-entry so I don’t burn up when I have to come back to earth”

In a social media post, former 100m world record holder and 1977 IAAF World Cup champion Steve Williams recalled that one of Greene's famous lines was, "Who wants to buy second place?"

In 2010, Greene battled diabetes, and received a kidney transplant.

Greene was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1992, the O'Dea High School Wall of Honor in 1998, and into the University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. Curiously, Greene is not in the WIAA Hall of Fame.

NOTE: USA Track & Field, the USOPC, O'Dea High School, and the sports information office of the University of Nebraska contributed to this report.

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